Born on Embers (Book3 of the Fallen Prophecy)
by Bookman Old Style
Summary: Ruby is now queen of the SkyWings, and it's been a long, good reign in the Kingdom. But Scarlet is still out there, a violently disfigured face, but Queen Ruby has higher priorities. Like raising her own daughter.
1. Acknowledgements

_Born on Embers_

 _By: Adrenaline the SkyWing_

 _For Azure the SeaWing, the one who's always supported me through thick and thin, and the one who has always loved me, for me._


	2. Prologue: The SkyWing Heir

_Sixteen years ago…._

The deep red SkyWing rushed through the dark corridors of her mother's palace. Her heart thumped loudly as she heard the violent cries of dragons outside, all of them dying brutally in that awful massacre that the Queen always claimed "thrilling". How could she be related to that monster out there? Sure, she was the eldest of her siblings, but Ruby wasn't ready to challenge her mother yet. Not when she's seen what the insane Queen of the SkyWings could do. Despite her relatively small size, she was dangerously strong, and so far, all three of her sisters –Andesine, Sardonyx, and Cuprite- learned that the hard way. The _dead_ way. Scarlet wasn't supposed to be trifled with, that she knew very well.

Ruby stopped, panting quietly as her ears flicked up and down, trying to see how long she still had. The roars of dragons outside had stopped, and she knew very well that the SkyWing subjects had just witnessed what that beast Peril could do. This was the first fight that little dragonet had been in, and the whole audience was quiet, shocked into silence; not a usual trait SkyWings had. She nodded as she heard her mother announce how wonderful the young dragon had done. Ruby continued down the stone hall once she heard the roar of her younger brother Vermillion stating that Arctic the IceWing would be fighting Scorpion the SandWing. The war was still in its fairly new stages of hell, and her mother's arena had never been more active than now due to prisoners she's acquired over the seven years.

 _Please, not yet, not yet!_ Her mind was repeating those precious words. If the guards in front of her bedroom chambers heard….

She shook her head with a snort, her crimson eyes closing. They won't find it. She had expertly hidden it, carefully beneath her pillows, under pelts of bedding, and securely notched into a space that was in front of a small crevice which brought forth warmth and fresh, rushing wind. She bumped into the yearling Scorch as she turned around a tight corner. The youngest brother in her large sibling wing growled as she stepped on his front talons.

"Ruby!" he squeaked imperiously. "What are you doing? Why aren't you with Mother in the arena?"

Ruby paused, staring down at the little fire-orange dragonet. He was only a year old…. No. She couldn't say anything. His mouth was as big as a mountain's cavern; there was absolutely no way he could keep a secret from Mother.

"I'd rather be dead than watch that gruesome sport Mother plays during almost all hours of the day," she snarled down at him. Her eyes locked with his, her heart racing. _You're running out of time, you stupid lizard. Stop dawdling and go to it! Now!_

She stormed past Scorch and thwacked him with her tail. "Why don't you go be a perfect son and go watch her yourself?" she barked at him.

He yelped as her tail swatted his snout, and skittered down the way she came, his claws clicking on the hard stone floor. Ruby continued down the hall, breathing small plumes of flame to light her way. Finally, she reached her bed chambers, two bronze SkyWing soldiers protecting it. They saluted the princess when they saw her, and let her enter.

She let her breath out in a loud sigh as soon as the large golden doors closed behind her. Her space was rather large, with stone walls on two sides of the room; the entrance took up most of the south wall, while where the eastern side should've been was a huge opening to the sky, overlooking the forests and the Kingdom of the Sea in the distance. A large bed was in the corner, blood colored sheets, flame-like pillows; all hiding the uncomfortable rock ledge, and the egg that Ruby had hidden underneath.

She crouched low, her underbelly scraping against the floor as her front talons reached toward the back and the wall. The egg was shimmering and glossy, as if it were drenched in blood. It had frightened her greatly when she had laid it, thinking she had done something wrong, but she later realized that the egg was perfectly healthy. Ruby clutched the dragon egg, resting her snout against the hard shell. She knew the father would be proud of it, the father was fiercely loyal to her, and disagreed just as much as she did against her mother's hobby.

"Your name will be Inferno," she whispered softly, resting the egg in the curl of her tail. "And you will always be safe. Scarlet will never lay a claw on you; I promised Fang that."

"I will always protect you."


	3. Chapter 1: Ablaze

Inferno stared out at the mountains in front of her. She was now sixteen years old, and her mother finally agreed to let her explore past the forests, past the Sky Kingdom. She shot a large plume of fire above her, turning the nearby clouds into mist. The sun sparkled in her eyes, causing her to squint, and she shifted on her feet, readying her wings. After crouching low, her ears caught the sound of wingbeats behind her.

Inferno spun around, her flame hiss sounding out deep in her throat.

"Sorry, sorry! It's just me!" shouted the almost black dragon, his wings flaring with a _whoosh_. Inferno hardly stopped herself from scorching the visitor's snout. He was a good foot taller than her, yet his features claimed he was a year younger than Inferno.

"Smaug," she hissed viciously. "What are you doing here? Did Queen Ruby tell you to come here and watch me?" Her tail lashed angrily, smashing nearby boulders, and flinging little pebbles and debris off the mountainside.

He scoffed, his eyes half-lidding. "No, I haven't seen the queen since Fang went searching for Scarlet. She doesn't order me any more specifically than she does other commonwealth SkyWings."

Inferno rolled her eyes, sitting on the stone. Smaug was a large, muscular dragon with scales that looked like cooled lava, speckled with bright red. His underscales were bright orange, like lava rivulets between the scorched scales. His eyes were the same color of orange, and his horns were like dried blood, with the rings of glowing lava along them as well.

"I still don't understand why he wants to find Scarlet, she's dead along with Stonemover, the old dragon who used to live in one of Jade Mountain's chambers. She's been dead for _years_ ," Inferno growled -covering her sadness of being parted with her father and mother at once- with annoyance.

Her father, the king of the SkyWings, had been seventeen years old when he had mated with Ruby, the new queen. He had been a loyal soldier to her, and he was the son of a famous general throughout the kingdom: Prejudice.

"She probably just won't show her snout because she doesn't know how to be queen," he said, folding his wings back. "I do support, Queen Ruby, but at least Scarlet knew _how_ to run a kingdom full of short-tempered dragons who could kill her through assassinations." Inferno spun towards him, bristling.

"Are you insane?! Why would you say that about my mother?"

"I'm just saying that not everyone thinks that your mother is a good candidate for queenliship," he sighed with a shrug. "I happen to be one of those kinds of dragons."

The princess snorted furiously, feeling the flickers of flame in her nostrils. "You're being an idiot. A big pile of carcasses."

Smaug rolled his eyes. "Oh no, I'm _so_ offended. A _pile_ of _carcasses_? I have no idea how I will live with _that_ insult." He gave her a small grin, causing Inferno to feel uncomfortably warm.

"Oh, stuff an elephant down your throat and shut up," she snarled, spinning away from him and his stupid smile. _Stupid, frog-faced blob of scorpion venom…._

Smaug barked out a laugh, causing her to shiver. "You're so cute, Inferno. Trying to be so mysterious, so angry. You can't pull that act with me."

"That's _Princess Inferno_ to you," she mumbled angrily. Smaug did an exaggerated bow.

"My apologies, Your Highness, _please_. Have mercy upon my scales!"

Inferno snorted again. "Oh stop it. I'm getting bored of your sarcasm." She waved a blood-red talon at him. He didn't mind, and he sidled up next to her, nudging her with his elbow.

"Oh no, the princess is mad about something again," he glanced at her, is lava-orange eyes concerned.

"It's nothing… but…" She perked up, staring at the open sky ahead of them. She turned towards him, grinning.

"Do you want to race?"


	4. Chapter 2: A Princess' Responsibilities

_Chapter 2_

Inferno and Smaug crouched down, their large wings spreading. Inferno's golden eyes scanned the sky in front of the two dragons, feeling the same rush of joy she had when she was told that she wouldn't be supervised for the week. That she was now –in her mother's eyes– ready to begin to explore on her own. She heard Smaug growl challengingly to her left.

"Any rules?" he rumbled, his lava-pool eyes looking at her. His smoky, black-red tail lashed.

"No," Inferno said, faint wisps of smoke lifting from her nostrils. "Only, no biting, no whacking, no slashing or flaming. Otherwise, go for it." She grinned when she heard Smaug snort in agreement.

"Got it," he said. Their wingtips brushed against each other, making Inferno internally squirm. She hated her feelings for Smaug and every time they popped up, she wanted to claw his snout until it had only bone showing. She was sure he felt the same way, but, she didn't have any of those stupid NightWing powers, so she couldn't tell. He was so hard to read, always cracking jokes, but most of the time he actually _was_ serious.

"One…" Inferno whispered to him. "Two…"

"THREE!" Smaug roared, leaping into the air, almost swatting Inferno with his long tail. He let out a large stream of fire, it clearing up as he spiraled through it. Smoke trailed at his wingtips and his horns.

"Smaug!" Inferno bellowed, she hurling herself at him, wanting to sink her fangs into his stupid neck. Inferno flapped viciously, speeding ahead of Smaug. Her eye-ridges furrowed in pure concentration.

 _I will not lose to Smaug!_ she roared in her head. _I will win!_

After a few moments, Inferno's ears could no longer catch Smaug's breathing or his wingbeats. She halted and turned back to see if he was alright. Her eyes narrowed when they caught him helping a large, fire-orange dragoness over towards her. Inferno snarled, her teeth bared. The SkyWing was about the size of Inferno, but older than she and Smaug combined. Yet, she was blessed – _and burdened,_ Inferno thought sourly- with two eggs. They hadn't fully developed quite yet, so her stomach bulged with the siblings. Inferno bowed her head in respect to her elder, sighing softly as they hovered in front of her.

"Hello, Necrosis," she mumbled.

"Princess Inferno," Necrosis began as she had always done, "your mother has received a rather grave letter from the Night Kingdom, whereas you, Your Highness are concerned. We believe it to be some kind of coded threat that could send our kingdoms to war." Necrosis clasped her talons together, awaiting her answer from Inferno.

"Okay?" Inferno said, skeptically. Realization smacked her in the snout and she hissed. "Wait. It's suddenly _my_ problem if a threat is made?" She didn't care if she sounded harsh; no tribe had ever relied on a princess to do anything before.

"Your Highness," Necrosis sighed. "Her Majesty has requested you have an audience with her in her throne-room. You must come back to the kingdom, where it is safest for you."

Inferno snorted, her ears flicking back indignantly. " _Fine_ ," she spat, whooshing past Necrosis and Smaug.

 _I can't believe Mother ordered Necrosis to order me to return home! After she promised she'd let me go out on my own!_ Her mind ranted in ire. _She couldn't get off her tail and take four minutes of her time to come and find me?! Pathetic!_ She growled her tears away, letting thick, dark smoke slip from her slightly parted jaws and wreath out behind her.

About fifteen minutes later, Inferno had made it back to her mother's palace. She landed on a ledge of a nearby mountain to gaze up at it in malevolence. The heart of the Sky Kingdom, the second tallest mountain in Pyrrhia was decorated in veins of gold, with countless jewels embedded in the stone. The sunlight flared against the gems, causing blinding and dazzling light to project to the world.

Inferno sighed and spread her wings once more, taking flight to the tallest room in the spire: Ruby's throne room. She landed gracefully, her claws clicking on the gilded floor. The gold sent rays of its brilliance onto her scales, but she didn't pay it any mind –too angry to think of anything else.

She glared at the large, dark red dragon queen whom rested upon the throne. "Dear, please do stop looking at me that way," her mother said softly.

"You couldn't get off your blasted throne to go tell me face-to-face that a threat was made?!" Inferno snapped. Queen Ruby rubbed her snout slightly, her crimson eyes sorrowful.

"Inferno, I _had_ to be here; your uncle has passed."

Inferno rolled her eyes inwardly, and furrowed her eye-ridges. "Which one?"

"The second youngest," Ruby muttered, her gaze trailing to the open sky. "Power."

"You have my condolences," Inferno said gruffly, lowering her eyes respectfully.

"Did you even care about him?" Ruby barked, sitting up. "About any of your family, Inferno?"

"I hardly care about anyone anymore!" Inferno yelled, flaring her wings. "I'm two tens and three years old, and you've kept me here for so long, I have only ever wanted was to leave!"

Ruby narrowed her eyes, blowing a wispy ring of smoke at her. "Inferno, do you even _realize_ what's out there? I know you were born amidst a blasted war, only witnessing a fleeting glimpse of your maniacal granddragon, but you haven't seen what I have!" The queen huffed, waving a bejeweled talon towards the open wall. "Pyrrhia is dangerous; it has bad dragons and…. And creatures, that could kill you, and Fang isn't here enough for me to _want_ another heir to my throne."

Inferno lifted her head, a slight ping of curiosity tingling in her brain. "Mother. What do you mean by _creatures_?" The large, crimson ruler looked away, holding her head and giving off a quiet growl.

"Vicious beasts they are," she muttered. "Black as the sky when there are no moons, no physical form except for the pathetic cover of shadows that hang around them like the plague. Resurrected dragons and possessed corpses. I haven't found a name for the monsters, but surprisingly enough, they are why I called you here." Ruby spread one of her wings, making Inferno have a terrible wrench from the past. Every time her mother delivered grieving news, she had Inferno curl up beside her, and she had laid her wing over her.

Inferno sighed softly and crept towards Ruby, and climbed atop the fire-orange pillows that made the gilded throne comfortable. Ruby gently kissed Inferno between her horns and wrapped her in her crimson wing.

"Inferno," Queen Ruby said. "My only daughter, my only heir to the throne. You, have always looked up to me; I can see your pride in your eyes. I knew you'd never challenge me, as I had never challenged my mother, Scarlet."

"I didn't challenge you because I don't want to be queen," Inferno mumbled. "I'm not capable of running your kingdom."

" _Our_ kingdom, Inferno," her mother whispered. "Our kingdom." Ruby stroked Inferno's head, a small puff of flame escaping her nostrils. "Anyway, um." She gently pulled out a scroll from behind Inferno, unraveling in front of both of them. "This is the letter from the Night Kingdom that was sent to me about half an hour ago…."

Inferno tilted her head, and then glanced up at the queen. "Mother, Necrosis told me it was a threat against the tribe."

"Not necessarily…." Ruby said.

"Then _what_ exactly?" Inferno said, rubbing her face. Necrosis and her mother the queen; both _completely_ infuriating. Queen Ruby patted Inferno.

"Well, it reads this: _'Dear Queen Ruby, and future queen, Princess Inferno, we the NightWings, wish to inform you that a wing of vicious creatures made of shadows and darkness, are coming towards your kingdom this very moment. There are over four and three-fifty of these monsters, their only objective is to kill the queen of the SkyWings. Our own king, Darkstalker, was slain about a month and a half ago. We as his tribe grieved the loss of Pyrrhia's first king, and now, we run the tribe with a council, as of now. We are a group made of these NightWings: Bravery; Moonwatcher; Secretkeeper; Starflight; and Fatespeaker. They are in the process of finding a runaway NightWing, a ten four year-old male prophet, named Shadowscales._

 _"'_ _This dragon, from many accounts, is highly suspicious of being allied with the creatures of darkness. Though, on countless other reports, we have been notified that Shadowscales was raised most of his life by our fallen king. We do not know which story to be true, because we are still wary of enemies ourselves. If you could please send Her Highness, Inferno, plus eight personal guards and your current war general, Battle to meet us on the West coast of our Kingdom._

 _"'_ _We expect your reply within four days; otherwise we will only have to assume that you and your tribe have been slaughtered. Please respond to us as soon as possible for all of Pyrrhia is at stake._

 _From, the NightWing Kingdom's Council.'"_

Inferno stared at the scroll in front of her and her mother; her eyes widened when she felt her mother trembling slightly.

"I can't let them take you," Ruby whispered in a choked voice. "I just can't."

Inferno lay her head on her mother's chest, hearing the queen's heartbeat. "Mother," she said softly. "If I'm ever going to be queen –and I mean _if_ – shouldn't I make my own choice about this?" She pressed her talon to her mother's; an un-bejeweled set of blood-red claws resting on a diamond and gold decorated crimson talon. Ruby's eyes were conflicted, pride and fear warring over her expression.

"Inferno," she whispered. "Are you sure you want to help them? That you want to leave your kingdom behind, for moons-know how long?"

She nodded, lifting her head and staring her mother in the eyes. "Yes, Your Majesty. Yes, my mother. I want to go." Inferno gave her mother a small smile. "Besides…. You'll have Vermillion and Scorch; they'll be here for you."

"If that is your decision," Queen Ruby sniffled, forcing her voice to be strong. "Then, I wish you good luck, Your Highness, Princess Inferno."


	5. Chapter 3: Prepared

Chapter 3

Inferno padded down to the palace's main courtyard. At the rate she was going, she'd get there by midnight. Smaug and Necrosis were egging her, the maid-SkyWing constantly referring to her as "Princess Inferno", and Smaug kept asking her if she were all right. They would not shut their snouts, making her scales itch with pure fury.

"Both of you, SHUT UP!" she roared back at them, her tail swatting them both into silence. Necrosis let out a soft snort of disapproval. Smaug chuckled as her tail slammed into his skull, he only wearing a silver helmet with a golden visor. For this mission, Smaug had been upgraded to Personal Royal Guard, upon Queen Ruby's request, and the rest of her guards -plus the SkyWing's general- were already in the courtyard. Inferno herself only protected herself with a thin veil of golden chainmail, studded with dark-red diamonds.

"I don't know why you're coming," she whispered to him as he paced himself faster so he could walk beside her.

"Because the queen wished for me to accompany you on this mission," Smaug said blithely, smiling a little. "I am your guard, therefore, I will give my life to you under _any_ circumstance." Those words made Inferno stumble and sent a shiver down her spine. And to her aggression, it was a _good_ feeling.

"Bah," she spat, smoke trailing from her nostrils. "You'll fly four dragons behind me. Any closer and I'll have you discharged immediately." Smaug gave her a wide grin, his lava-pool eyes happy.

"Yes, Your Highness," he replied.

Inferno and her two friends made it to the courtyard, bright, bright sunshine causing her deep-red scales to glisten and warm up. Smaug lowered his visor, obscuring his eyes from the light. She could still see his cheeky smile, making her want to bite him. But she didn't, and instead walked up to her kingdom's general, Battle.

"Your Highness," he said respectfully, bowing his head.

"General," Inferno replied. "Will I be leading this journey or you?"

"I," Battle murmured; his voice strong and deep. His ruby-red scales with lighter tinges of gold were mostly concealed in glittering silver armor. He, as a general, was given the right to tie a titanium spear to his tail. And he as the second-best war leader accepted that option. His amber eyes were barely visible under his helmet's visor. "We'll cut through the mountains," he said, pointing east. "And we'll rest at the outskirts of Queen Moorhen's territory."

Inferno nodded, enjoying the older dragon's rugged voice. "Perfect. So, only a two day flight to the Night Kingdom?"

"Yes, Your Highness," Battle confirmed. "We have your other guards; Pernicious; Loyalty; Savage; Fierce; Glide; Cliff; and lastly, Turmoil. We were informed that young-hearted Smaug would be joining us and has escorted you here. All we need is our formations of our wing, Your Highness."

"Have Glide, Cliff, Turmoil and Loyalty fly behind me. Then, place Smaug behind Loyalty and Savage and Fierce as well. Pernicious will cover our flanks to make sure that no DarkWings ambush us from behind."

The guards around her turned to her, their red, gold and amber eyes wide and shocked.

"What?" Inferno asked, raising an eye-ridge.

"Your Highness," Battle said. "What are DarkWings?" Inferno tilted her head.

"Mother has informed you of them, did she not?" Inferno said skeptically.

Battle lowered his head to be eye-level with Inferno. "Her Majesty had instructed us to protect you against beasts that look like wisps and nightmarish –concealed in cloaks of shadows with a paralyzing scream and dead, red eyes. But, Her Majesty never called them DarkWings. Do…do you wish us to refer to them as such?" Inferno silently shunned herself for being smaller than the general and raised her head, and squared her shoulders. Battle straightened himself as well, now just looking down at her.

"Yes, general, the beasts are called DarkWings. Now, is there anything else that we must discuss before our flight?" The SkyWing tilted his head thoughtfully.

"No, Your Highness," he answered finally. "Everything is in order a-" Battle cut off abruptly, his amber eyes landing on Smaug. His ears flicked back and he approached the younger male.

"Where is your armor?" he asked, his voice like rolling thunder. Smoke wreathed from his maw. "Do you wish to die?"

Smaug arrogantly raised his chin, now eye-level with the general. "Sir," he said slowly. "If anything, I am being brave and fearless, for a dragon unarmored, is a dragon who is skilled enough in combat to not need it." He gave Battle a slight smirk. "I simply just wish to completely lay my life to Her Highness, Princess Inferno." Battle's eyes narrowed and he breathed s thin tongue of fire, its tendrils sending a blinding flare of orange and gold from Smaug's visor.

"You'll be killed," Turmoil hissed as he slid up next to the SkyWing general. Inferno raised an eye-ridge, finding this all interesting. She only knew a little about Turmoil –but the biggest part she knew is his infatuation towards her, and how much Ruby tried to place them together to be the new Queen and King one day. Inferno always refused, because her feelings were not true towards him, but Ruby still persisted. Turmoil's scales were the color of fire, with golden underscales and deep-red eyes. He turned his head toward her and she snorted at him.

 _Our tribe is very amusing,_ Inferno thought humorously

"Your Highness," he breathed, holding out a glittering talon. " _Please_. Do not situate yourself with such vulgar and _common_ dragons. He isn't worth your time." She glanced at Smaug who was now snarling at Turmoil.

Inferno decided it was finally to put them both in place. "Are you telling me what to do?" she asked, unfurling her wings slightly. Her gold chainmail shone in the sun, it sending rays of light to the other SkyWings' armored bodies. "You," she finally said, after not receiving an answer. "Hold your tongue." Inferno turned her hard stare to Smaug. "And you. Go get suited up –I do not want to hear about this problem ever again. Understood?" Battle's head was raised, a slight bit of pride on his face. Battle had been the closest thing Inferno had for a father, seeing as her father Fang was still out in Pyrrhia, searching every nook and cranny for her granddragon, Scarlet.

Smaug bowed his head and made his way to the armory, not a single comment on his breath. Turmoil lowered his head, feigning shame as he went towards Pernicious, his sister.

"Well done, Your Highness," Battle whispered to her as he padded up to her. He smiled down at her. "You're going to be a wonderful Queen one day, and I'd gladly serve you as my Majesty." Inferno quickly hugged him and nudged his shoulder.

"I try," she grinned, letting go of him and smiling up at the sun. "In this kingdom, no dragon has the courage to question the princess."

Battle smiled down at her and began to bark orders at the other guards, whipping them into formation. Inferno watched him, tilting her head in fascination. That is, until out of the corner of her eye she saw a fire-orange dragon bustling towards her and calling her name. She sighed and shook her head. Not one moment of peace as a royal, was there?

"Inferno!" Necrosis cried again, a slight edge to her voice. She dashed up to her, her eyes stern. "Don't you dare ignore me," she growled softly, making Inferno raise an eye-ridge at her.

"You're not serious," she said coldly. But Necrosis only nodded.

"For the fires' sake, Inferno," Necrosis said. "You aren't going into a possible massacre with only that pathetic vest of mail are you?" It was time for Inferno to simply nod in response.

"I can protect myself," she answered.

Necrosis looked as if she were about to smack her. "Princess Inferno," she began with a trembling voice. It wavered because of rage. "I highly _advise_ you to wear at _least_ a helmet."

 _Stupid, smoke-breathing goat,_ Inferno thought, exasperated. "Necrosis, I'll be fine," she growled aloud. "I'm not a hatchling anymore: I know what I'm doing."

"Inferno," Necrosis said once more. " _Please_."

"Necrosis," Inferno snapped. "Just knock it off! I'm not going to wear anything else, and that is final!" Necrosis' eyes were wide and then Inferno saw a film begin to coat them. The fire-orange dragoness lowered her head and shuffled back into the shadows of the rock palace. Her eyes were pools of distraught. As Inferno watched her, she began to feel dread tug at her chest and her legs began to move without her thinking.

As soon as Smaug came back from the armory, his smile gone as a feather in a strong wind, Inferno brushed past him and into the deep, dark chamber –it only lit by torchlight. Inferno made her way towards the torches and she spit a thin thread of flame at one. It immediately burst up brighter.

She was in a windowless cave, with numerous rows upon rows of hanging gold, silver, bronze and grey metal plates and helmets. A large set and a rather smaller set was in the very front. Inferno walked up to the smaller of the two and inspected her armor. It was all painted black, upon her request and to her mother's disagreement. Veins of gold pulsed in the firelight and she slowly reached up and grabbed her helmet. She examined it carefully, making sure that the last battle she was in –the Battle of the Summer Sunset. It was a vicious and bloody fight, and she was only one ten and eight years old. She'd been given the honor to fight beside Battle, and she'd managed four-ten kills. The fight was between the SandWings and the SkyWings, once more quarreling over Possibility. Inferno had gotten her skull cracked –and her helmet caved in- by a rather vicious hammer from a SandWing whom Battle claimed to know. He said that the female's name was Mirage and she was one of the most skilled SandWings in blacksmithing. Inferno had spared the SandWing's life, out of pure respect. Besides, Mirage _had_ visited her when she was bedridden for two months, and apologized out of regret.

Inferno admired how a stripe of gold went from the base of her skull to between her horns, and then dived itself unevenly on both sides, into thinner rivulets. A few rivulets ended in swirls or just in mid-flow, while at least two on both sides of her head ended at the sides of her eyes, for her eyes were the reservoir of gold and good fortune. Diamonds and rubies encrusted where her spines would start, they traveling through the stripe of gold, like stones in a stream.

Inferno strapped the helmet on, slowly maneuvering her horns through the respected slots and then she unclipped her veil made of black silk and lowered it over her snout and eyes. She decided against weighing herself any more down with other pieces of gear, and then she made her way out of the armory. Sunlight didn't penetrate her eyes this time, and she silently gave the signal to form the wing of SkyWings. She knew Necrosis was watching, for she could practically feel the holes burning through the helmet. She had to convince herself, despite her heart claiming the truth, that she only took the helmet for extra precaution.

Inferno did _not_ follow Necrosis' advice because she felt bad, or that she _cared_. She did it for herself.

That's what she told herself, until her heart believed it as well.


End file.
